Toggle high contrast
Issue date

Risks is the TUC's weekly newsletter for safety reps and others, sponsored by Thompsons Solicitors.

COVID NEWS

Government ‘sowing dangerous confusion’ at work
Wilko sorry for saying staff could work with Covid
Union inspection notice leads to HMRC commitments

OTHER NEWS
Mental health concern for journalists covering conflict
Usdaw focused on young workers and mental health
Union backs film and TV healthy work campaign
Always-on culture is a significant problem
Carmont rail crash report shows systemic failures
City Hall gets ‘world-leading’ menopause policy
Flagship MacMerry pub hit by protest
Network Rail pays out over drug test sacking
FBU highlights increased risk for firefighters

INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Europe: MEPS call for a law on psychosocial risks
Global: Safety must be a fundamental right at work
Ireland: Migrant fisher injuries linked to permit scheme
Ukraine: US reporter shot and killed
 

COVID NEWS

 

Government ‘sowing dangerous confusion’ at work

The TUC is warning that workers’ safety is being put at risk by ‘confused’ guidance announced by the prime minister on Covid-19 and workplace risk assessments. The union body has written to business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng to raise concerns about the ‘Living with Covid’ plan, presented to parliament on 21 February, which states that from 1 April, employers will no longer have to explicitly consider Covid-19 in their risk assessments (Risks 1034). The TUC warns this change conflicts with the statutory duty employers have to “make a suitable and sufficient assessment of the risks to the health and safety of his employees to which they are exposed whilst they are at work,” under regulation 3.1 of the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations. The TUC adds that the regulation requires any risk to health to be incorporated in a risk assessment, and this must therefore include the ongoing risks working people face from contracting Covid-19 and long Covid. TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Wherever you work, you have a right to be safe. And your employer has a responsibility to fully assess the risks you face and take appropriate action. But ministers are sowing dangerous confusion on Covid safety at work. Longstanding rules on workplace safety clearly indicate that employers should consider Covid risks, but the government has sent out a conflicting message. And this may leave working people facing risks that could and should be prevented.” She added: “We want ministers to clear up this confusion by advising employers that they must still consider Covid-19 in workplace risk assessments. And we are advising workplace health and safety reps that they should continue to request specific information on Covid-19 when they are consulted on risk assessments.” The Office for National Statistics has said that Covid-19 infections are now rising across the UK. Latest Health and Safety Executive’s figures show that after falling through February, reported work-related cases took an upturn at the start of March. The figures show during the pandemic there have been 43,113 work-related disease notifications of Covid-19 reported to enforcing authorities under RIDDOR, including 454 death notifications.
TUC news release and letter to business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng. ONS infection survey, UK: 11 March 2022. Management Information: Coronavirus (COVID-19) disease reports: Made by employers to HSE and Local Authorities since 10 April 2020, figures up to 5 March, HSE, 14 March 2022 update. BBC News Online.
 

Wilko sorry for saying staff could work with Covid

Retail chain Wilko has apologised for ‘some miscommunication’ in which it told staff they could continue to work if they tested positive for Covid. In a memo, reported by The Mirror, the company said staff with the virus could continue to work in stores if they felt well enough. Wilko confirmed the memo was sent out and the firm has since made a u-turn. “When we get something wrong, we hold our hands up, admit it, and work to correct the situation,” Wilko chief executive Jerome Saint-Marc said in an online statement. In a post on the company’s Facebook page he said he wanted to “reassure all our customers and team members” that the company's advice to staff with Covid symptoms or those who test positive was to stay at home and avoid contact with others. “As throughout our 92 years on the High Street, the safety and wellbeing of our shoppers and teams is at the heart of our business and we're truly sorry for any understandable concerns our communications may have raised,” he added. People with Covid in England are no longer legally required to self-isolate with all restrictions now removed, but it is still recommended. In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, people are still asked to self-isolate after a positive test. In Wilko's initial memo to staff, the company, which has 414 stores in the UK, said: “If you test positive for Covid-19 and feel well you can continue to come to work, if you feel too unwell you can follow the absence policy.” The TUC has said people should not be forced to choose between going into work with Covid or risking losing income by self-isolating at home (Risks 1033).
Wilko CEO apology on Facebook. The Mirror and related report. BBC News Online. The Guardian.
 

Union inspection notice leads to HMRC commitments

The head of the HRMC has made key safety commitments after civil service union PCS raised formal safety concerns over Covid, risk assessments and return to workplaces. On 22 February, PCS served a Union Inspection Notice (UIN) on HMRC chief executive Jim Harra “outlining our concerns with the consultation and engagement process around risk assessments, in relation to returns to the office.” The UIN - a tool used by unions to formally lodge concerns where there are believed to be failures in following health and safety legislation - quoted six areas where it believed HRMC was falling short of its legal safety duties and requiring the government agency to resolve the concerns. In a formal response to the PCS Union Inspection Notice, the HMRC chief made three explicit commitments: To consult with PCS on matters affecting health and safety; to review and revise risk assessments as required with input from PCS; and to share Covid-19 risk assessments and guidance. PCS said it will continue to discuss its concerns with HMRC and will “act in the best interests of members’ safety.”
PCS news release.
 

OTHER NEWS

 

Mental health concern for journalists covering conflict

Employers must offer ‘adequate support’ to all journalists covering the conflict in Ukraine from the frontline and in newsrooms handling often distressing copy and images of the war, the UK journalists’ union NUJ has said. The call came in resolution from the union’s newspaper and agency industrial council (NAIC). The resolution noted: “The horrifying news coming out of Ukraine following the invasion initiated by Vladamir Putin will have affected journalists everywhere, whether or not they are covering the war directly. As the industrial council for the newspaper and news agency sector we urge NUJ reps to remind their employers they have a duty of care to every member of staff. In particular employers should ensure the mental health of journalists handling distressing material – either copy or images – is being adequately protected.” The NUJ said it has campaigned for employers to take the impact of handling such journalistic material on individuals more seriously. The union has also taken up cases of members ‘whose health has been badly impaired by direct and vicarious PTSD.’ It said NUJ members should contact their workplace health and safety rep to discuss any concerns.
NUJ news release.
 

Usdaw focused on young workers and mental health

Retail trade union Usdaw is reach out to young workers to highlight its campaigning work. It says the union’s first Young Workers’ Week, running from 14-20 March, will focus on mental health in the workplace. Events marking the week, in workplaces, colleges and street stalls, were intended to focus on recruiting young workers to Usdaw and encouraging them to play an active role in the union. In addition, Usdaw reps are being encouraged to talk to their young colleagues at work about the campaign, using the Usdaw Young Workers Mental Health Survey. Usdaw general secretary Paddy Lillis said: “This year's Young Workers' Week is themed around the important and growing issue of mental health in the workplace. The week provides an opportunity to promote trade unions to young workers and demonstrates how being a member of Usdaw can improve their working lives. Our activists and reps will be surveying and advising young workers at over 180 events in workplaces and communities across the UK.” He added: “Young workers are much less likely to speak to someone at work about how they feel or ask for help. Trade union reps can help and support members when it’s needed most. Our reps play a crucial role in ensuring members have a say in their work role and environment, to help keep them safe and promote good mental health. I wish our reps and activists well in their efforts to reach to young workers this week, which is an all year-round priority for Usdaw.”
Usdaw news release.
 

Union backs film and TV healthy work campaign

Creative industries union Bectu has welcomed the latest phase of the Film and TV Charity’s 12-month campaign to redefine working culture in the film and TV industry. ‘The Whole Picture Toolkit: For Mentally Healthy Productions’ is a free to use website, created by the charity and a coalition of industry partners and bodies, freelancers, mental health experts and sector practitioners, including Bectu. Head of Bectu Philippa Childs participated in the Film and TV Charity’s working group to collate the resources, which aim to give anyone working in production – from those working on large scale productions to those operating on a shoestring – the tools they may need to improve working environments and the industry’s wider approach to mental health. The toolkit also incorporates Bectu’s recently launched welfare policy (Risks 1034). Philippa Childs said: “There is a real problem around mental health in film and TV, and so this piece of work has been really crucial for pulling together all of the resources across the industry, that productions can use to make sure they support their freelancers, and make sure that it is a healthy production.” She added: “We want to be part of the solution to bring the industry into a place where people are not suffering quite so badly.”
Bectu news release. The Whole Picture Toolkit.
 

Always-on culture is a significant problem

The right to disconnect is supported by a clear majority of workers, new data from Ipsos has revealed. Despite 67 per cent of the UK workforce having work-related communications outside of their working day, more than half think it is unacceptable to do so, the world’s third largest market researcher found. Commenting on the findings, Andrew Pakes, research director at the union Prospect, said: “Digital technology has undoubtedly kept us safe, connected and working during the pandemic, but for many the lines between work and home have become blurred, making it harder to switch-off work and contributing to burnout and poor mental health. Prospect has been leading UK calls for a right to disconnect to help ensure flexible working is a success and that we put in place the safeguards to tackle the risks of surveillance technology and work pressures that mean some people simply cannot switch-off from work.” He added: “Employers need to recognise that this is a problem which will ultimately result in lost days, decreased productivity, a demotivated workforce and burnout.”
Prospect news release. City AM.
 

Carmont rail crash report shows systemic failures

Rail unions have called for wide-ranging safety improvements and an end to Network Rail jobs and maintenance cuts after a report blamed systematic safety failings for a fatal train derailment. In the report into the 12 August 2020 Carmont tragedy (Risks 993), the RAIB exonerated the driver and blamed ScotRail and Network Rail for failures in the crash near Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire. Three people died – train driver Brett McCullough, 45, conductor Donald Dinnie, 58, and passenger Christopher Stuchbury, 62. Mick Whelan, general secretary of the train drivers’ union ASLEF, said: “This report is damning and makes for difficult reading, not least for the families of those who died and were injured. The failures identified in this report are so bad that we believe this must be a watershed moment in the way we ensure the safety of passengers and staff on our railway network.” Kevin Lindsay, ASLEF's organiser in Scotland, said: "Network Rail and Abellio ScotRail failed the staff and the passengers who were on the train that crashed at Carmont and they must be held to account. This should start with [Scotrail managing director] Alex Hynes; given his involvement in both Network Rail and Abellio ScotRail, his position is untenable, and he must resign with immediate effect.” Rail union RMT called for an urgent rail safety summit of the Scottish and UK government’s, the rail unions, Network Rail, the rail infrastructure companies and operators to prevent another tragedy. RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said the report exposed “systemic and structural failures in railway safety caused by fragmentation with different companies responsible for the management and implementation of safety critical work, signalling, operations and rolling stock.” He added “we are calling for an immediate halt to plans by Network Rail to cut thousands of safety critical maintenance jobs and guarantees that the necessary investment in the rail infrastructure and modern communication systems to keep the railways safe will take place.” Manuel Cortes, TSSA general secretary, called for ScotRail to take its High-Speed Trains (HSTs) out of service. He added: “What is already clear is that the problem will be exacerbated if the government continues to press ahead with plans to force staff cuts on Network Rail.”
ASLEF news release. RMT news release and related news release. TSSA news release. RAIB statement, video and report, Derailment of a passenger train at Carmont, 10 March 2022. ORR statement. Construction Enquirer.
 

City Hall gets ‘world-leading’ menopause policy

The Mayor of London has announced new support for City Hall workers going through the menopause. Sadiq Khan said the ‘world-leading’ policy aims to ensure the working environment is comfortable wherever possible, including the possibility of temperature-controlled areas. Other measures include allowing for flexible adjustments in the working day, for example taking breaks for severe symptoms or time off to attend medical appointments. “Employers have a responsibility to create truly inclusive workplaces and part of that means ensuring there is an understanding of the menopause and how it can affect staff, and challenging the taboos surrounding the subject, which all too often prevent people from getting the support they need,” the mayor said. Welcoming the new policy, UNISON general secretary Christina McAnea said: “The emotional and physical changes of the menopause can’t be underestimated. Nor can their effect on women’s jobs. Good employers want to ensure the best possible working environment. Women must be able to do their jobs in comfort and not feel stigmatised either. Flexible working can make a real difference. Employers must also be careful not to penalise women for taking more time off sick if it’s down to the menopause.” The UNISON leader added: “Working alongside UNISON, the mayor and Greater London Assembly have created a bold, supportive policy that leads the way. Other employers should follow suit by fostering a safer, fairer workplace for women experiencing the menopause. That’s the way to encourage experienced and skilled staff to stay in work.”
UNISON news release and menopause resources. Mayor of London news release.
Resources: TUC menopause at work interactive guide and Supporting working women through the menopause: guidance for union representatives.
 

Flagship MacMerry pub hit by protest

Protestors have demonstrated outside Scottish pub chain MacMerry’s flagship central London pub, as the campaign against the company’s ‘appalling’ treatment of staff intensified. Members from Unite were joined by a Los Angeles delegation from the US Unite Here union in the 9 March demonstration outside the Abandon Ship pub in Covent Garden. Unite said the protest was ‘over a litany of grievances’ by staff at MacMerry and Abandon Ship venues in Glasgow and Dundee, including managers ignoring sexual misconduct allegations and serious health and safety concerns (Risks 1028). Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “MacMerry claims to be acting upon their workers’ very serious grievances, but these are empty words – in fact, things are getting worse for the workforce as MacMerry is now targeting Unite members for standing up in support of one another.” She added: “MacMerry’s appalling behaviour has left the company’s reputation in tatters. Things will not improve until the company works with Unite to address its appalling treatment of staff.” Unite has submitted a seven-page grievance document to MacMerry, which runs 13 bars and restaurants across Glasgow and Dundee, signed by 58 current staff and 13 former employees. The grievance document accuses MacMerry of “the mistreatment of workers across all venues” as well as failing to abide by “the most basic legal obligations of duty of care towards staff.” Unite hospitality organiser Bryan Simpson said: “First the company treated its staff very badly, then it made veiled threats that staff protests in Dundee could result in job losses. After that it went back on public promises to resolve these serious issues and has since started targeting union members.”
Unite news release.
 

Network Rail pays out over drug test sacking

A rail inspector with ‘shy bladder syndrome’ has been awarded a £90,000 payout after he was sacked by Network Rail for failing to provide on demand a urine sample for a drugs test. The condition, which has been confirmed by his GP in a diagnosis of ‘‘paruresis’, meant Lewis Smith couldn’t provide a urine sample when Network Rail called him in for the random check. He offered to carry out a blood test - but he was fired anyway for refusing to take part. The worker, who had been employed by Network Rail for nine years and managed a team of 12 in a safety critical role, successfully claimed unfair dismissal at an employment tribunal. After Network Rail ignored the tribunal’s order to reinstate him, claiming he had used a ‘loophole’ to escape drug testing, the firm was ordered to compensate the unfairly dismissed worker. In July 2019, Mr Smith and other colleagues were called to a drug and alcohol test. The employment tribunal report said: “Mr Smith had informed the Testing Officer that he sometimes had difficulty with providing urine and had offered to undertake other tests, including a blood test, in place of providing a urine sample. He had not sought to evade providing a urine sample. He was unable to do so because of an undiagnosed medical condition.” It added: “His GP’s diagnosis confirmed that he was suffering from paruresis (shy bladder syndrome) and that this had prevented him from providing a sample to the Testing Officer.” He was sacked in October 2019 despite there being ‘no evidence of culpable and blameworthy conduct’. The tribunal panel said Network Rail’s decision to fire Mr Smith was ‘flawed and ill-considered’, and that its own procedures confirmed he had not attempted to evade drug testing. Network Rail maintained it did not wish to reinstate Mr Smith and accepted it must pay him compensation. As a result, the panel ordered the firm to pay Mr Smith £89,861, which includes a charge for its non-compliance.
Hampshire Live. Resources: Drug testing in the workplace - Guidance for workplace representatives, TUC, 2019. More on workplace drug policy.
 

FBU highlights increased risk for firefighters

Firefighters’ union FBU is continuing its campaign to expose the link between the job and raised cancer risks and to press for prevention. The union points to a survey of 10,000 firefighters by the University of Central Lancashire, which found rates of cancer were four times higher amongst firefighters than amongst the general public. The FBU said its DECON campaign, launched last year, is informing firefighters about how they reduce the risk from exposure to fire contaminants. It hopes its Firefighter Cancer and Disease Registry will provide crucial information on the extend and causes of the problem.  FBU national officer Riccardo la Torre said: “We need every single firefighter to fill out that registry, whether you’ve been diagnosed with cancer, whether you’ve been diagnosed with a disease or if you’ve never been diagnosed with anything – we need you to fill out that registry now. There is so much more we need to understand about the link between cancer and other diseases and the occupation of firefighting.” He added: “We cannot protect ourselves from this danger if we don’t properly understand it and we simply cannot do that unless firefighters fill out that registry. Every single firefighter needs to fill it out and they need to fill it out quickly so we can start this life-saving work.”
FBU news release and video.
 

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

 

Europe: MEPS call for a law on psychosocial risks

The European Parliament has voted strongly in favour of a new law on psychosocial risks at work. In a newly adopted parliamentary report, ‘A new EU strategic framework on health and safety at work post 2020’, the European Parliament has echoed union calls for a directive on work-related psychosocial risks (Risks 1035). The report, drafted by Danish MEP Marianne Vind, gives a detailed overview to the European Commission on what must be included in a proposed framework to improve the conditions and organisation of workplaces throughout Europe. The broad-based report calls “on the Commission to propose, in consultation with the social partners, a directive on psychosocial risks and wellbeing at work aimed at the efficient prevention of psychosocial risks in the workplace, such as anxiety, depression, burnout and stress, including risks caused by structural problems such as work organisation (ie. poor management, poor work design or not properly matching workers’ knowledge and abilities with the assigned tasks).” Eurocadres president Nayla Glaise, whose organisation has with the ETUC spearheaded a union Endstress.eu platform, commented: “There is a consensus not only amongst MEPs, amongst trade unions and amongst civil society, but throughout Europe. We need action from the Commission, we need a directive.”
Eurocadres news release. ETUI policy brief on psychosocial risks in Europe. Socialists and Democrats news release.
 

Global: Safety must be a fundamental right at work

Global unions are calling for an amendment to the 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work that will lead to occupational health and safety (OHS) being recognised as a fundamental principle and right at work. The call from the chemicals, mining and manufacturing global union IndustriALL came ahead a meeting of the International Labour Organisation’s governing body, which started on 14 March. The amendment would see OHS joining the four fundamental principles and rights at work that the 1998 Declaration currently recognises: freedom of association and the right to organise and bargain collectively; the prohibition of forced labour; prohibition of child labour; and the elimination of discrimination in employment. Unions want the proposal add occupational health and safety to be approved at the ILO’s International Labour Conference in June this year. “Health and safety at work is neither a perk to be bargained for nor a favour to be asked. It is our right,” said IndustriALL mining director and OHS lead, Glen Mpufane. “No wage is worth our health or our life, and no remedy can be granted by an arbitrator that will restore our health or our life, once it is lost.” IndustriALL assistant general secretary, Kan Matsuzaki added: “The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights include a duty and responsibility to protect the health and safety of workers. With the United Nations’ resolution recognising access to a healthy and sustainable environment as a universal right, another historic moment awaits the governing body to make the correct decision.” Making health and safety a fundamental right at work is the theme for International Workers’ Memorial Day on 28 April this year.
IndustriALL news release. ITUC 28 April campaign webpage and facebook page.
 

Ireland: Migrant fisher injuries linked to permit scheme

Injuries sustained by migrant fishers have been linked to a culture of excessive hours and ‘cover-ups’ driven by Ireland’s controversial work permit scheme. Campaign lead for the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) in Ireland, Michael O’Brien, told media that fishers were working longer hours than was safe or legal, but that the risk of fishers losing their visa status if they are fired or taken out of work due to injury meant many feel compelled to endure unsafe practices on board. “Some vessel owners would say ‘fishing is a dangerous job’. But the pictures of these injured fishers speak for themselves: excessive hours and a culture of health and safety cover-ups have become the industry norm when it comes to migrant fishers,” said O’Brien. “The recurring testimony we received from migrant fishers, both those documented and undocumented, is of working 15 to 20 hours in a single stint, sometimes more. This can go on for days on end.” He added: “Getting to the root of this problem will require that the government abolish the Atypical Work Permit Scheme and move the fishers to the Critical Skills Permit Scheme instead. Shifting migrant fishers towards this more advantageous scheme will give them the ability to challenge dangerous working conditions and ultimately change employer and keep their right to stay living and working in Ireland.”
ITF news release.
 

Ukraine: US reporter shot and killed

An award-winning US journalist working in Ukraine, Brent Renaud, has been shot dead in Irpin, outside Kyiv. Ukrainian police said the journalist was targeted on 13 March by Russian soldiers. Two other journalists were injured and taken to hospital. It is the first reported death of a foreign journalist covering the war in Ukraine, although several have been injured. The International and European Federations of Journalists (IFJ-EFJ) condemned the killing and called for the killers to be brought to justice. The tragedy came less than two weeks after Ukrainian journalist Yevheniy Sakun, a camera operator for the Ukrainian television channel LIVE, was killed when a building near the TV transmission tower in Kyiv was hit by shelling. “We are shocked by the increasing number of attacks on journalists trying to cover the war in Ukraine,” said IFJ general secretary Anthony Bellanger. “The deaths of journalists Brent Renaud and Yevheniy Sakun cannot go unpunished. The authorities must do everything possible to identify the perpetrators of these war crimes.” Ricardo Gutiérrez, general secretary of the European journalists’ federation EFJ commented: “These systematic attacks on journalists and other war crimes require a strong response from the international community.” He added: “The EFJ calls once again for the establishment of a special international tribunal on these war crimes committed in the context of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This murderous spiral must be stopped!” The UK journalists’ union NUJ has produced war zone safety information with guidance for reporting in conflict zones.
IFJ news release. IFJ/EFJ Ukraine safety fund. NUJ news release and war zone safety information.
 

PUBLICATION

TUC Hazards at Work 6th Edition

Stock Code: HS111
Price £22 RRP £52
Also now available as an eBook
This is the Sixth edition of the TUC's best-selling guide to health and safety at work.
Used by reps, officers, employers, professionals in the field and even enforcement officers. This incredibly popular book is now even more informative at over 400 pages, an invaluable resource, which incorporates common hazards and cause of ill health at work, and how to assess and prevent them.
The book also contains HSE and other guidance, extensive checklists, case studies and web resources.
Order your copy
There are discounts on bulk orders, over 5 copies, please contact us for details.
Those on TUC approved courses can receive discount, please call for details 0207 467 1294. Or email at; publications@tuc.org.uk
 

TUC COURSES FOR SAFETY REPS

Courses for 2022

Find the latest courses at https://www.tuc.org.uk/TUCcourses
 
 
This newsletter is sponsored by Thompsons Solicitors.
View our privacy policy
Enable Two-Factor Authentication

To access the admin area, you will need to setup two-factor authentication (TFA).

Setup now